2012/02/16: CBC: Canada joins 5-nation effort on climate change pollutantsSlow pace of climate change talks prompt deal to reduce emissions from ‘short-lived’ pollutants U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is set to announce a program to reduce emissions of common pollutants along with five other countries, including Canada, in an effort to combat global warming. Peter Kent, Canada’s environment minister, is in the U.S. capital for the Thursday announcement, and will hold a news conference at the Canadian embassy to discuss the new measures in detail. The five-year initiative was prompted by the slow pace of international climate change talks. Officials from Bangladesh, Ghana, Mexico, Sweden and the United Nations Environment Program are also on hand for Clinton’s announcement. The plan is aimed at addressing short-lived pollutants like soot or black carbon, methane and hydrofluorocarbons.

2012/02/16: Guardian(UK): Revealed: How fossil fuel reserves match UN climate negotiating positionsNew figures calculate how much CO2 each country could emit in the future and asks how their fuel reserves affect their position at the UN climate negotiations Want to understand why we’re not solving climate change? Then follow the money — which in this case means following the carbon. I’ve spent much of the past 24 hours crunching data and it turns out there’s a very striking — and oddly overlooked — correlation between fossil fuel reserves and national negotiating position on climate change.

2012/02/15: CSM: Documents reveal Koch-funded group’s plot to undermine climate scienceLeaked documents from the free-market conservative organization The Heartland Institute reveal a plan to create school educational materials that contradict the established science on climate change. The documents, leaked by an anonymous donor and released on DeSmogBlog, include the organization’s 2012 fundraising plan. It lists Heartland Institute donors, from the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation (established by Koch Industries billionaire Charles G. Koch), to Philip Morris parent company Altria, to software giant Microsoft and pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly. The climate change education project is funded so far by an anonymous donor who has given $13 million to the Institute over the past five years.

2012/02/16: TStar: Scientists sound alarm over climate-change skepticismDocuments suggesting that a U.S. think-tank plans to push for a public school curriculum questioning climate change is a worrisome sign, top scientists say. The leaked papers from the nonprofit organization the Heartland Institute has created a buzz within the scientific community as the American Association for the Advancement of Science gathers in Vancouver.

2012/02/16: BBC: Openness: A Heartland-warming taleIt’s been a while, but at last another climate-related “gate” has opened… and this time, it’s in the edifice constructed by those who would have you think climate “scepticism” was rooted purely in science, with never a hint of politics involved.

2012/02/15: NYT: Leak Offers Glimpse of Campaign Against Climate ScienceLeaked documents suggest that an organization known for attacking climate science is planning a new push to undermine the teaching of global warming in public schools, the latest indication that climate change is becoming a part of the nation’s culture wars. The documents, from a nonprofit organization in Chicago called the Heartland Institute, outline plans to promote a curriculum that would cast doubt on the scientific finding that fossil fuel emissions endanger the long-term welfare of the planet. “Principals and teachers are heavily biased toward the alarmist perspective,” one document said. While the documents offer a rare glimpse of the internal thinking motivating the campaign against climate science, defenders of science education were preparing for battle even before the leak. Efforts to undermine climate-science instruction are beginning to spread across the country, they said, and they fear a long fight similar to that over the teaching of evolution in public schools.

It is evident that the Fukushima disaster is going to persist for some time. TEPCO says 6 to 9 months. The previous Japanese Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, said decades. Now the Japanese government is talking about 30 years. [Whoops, that has now been updated to 40 years.] We’ll see. At any rate this situation is not going to be resolved any time soon and deserves its own section.Meanwhile…It is very difficult to know for sure what is really going on at Fukushima. Between the company [TEPCO], the Japanese government, the Japanese regulator [NISA], the international monitor [IAEA], as well as independent analysts and commentators, there is a confusing mish-mash of information. One has to evaluate both the content and the source of new information.How knowledgeable are they [about nuclear power and about Japan]?Do they have an agenda?Are they pro-nuclear or anti-nuclear?Do they want to write a good news story?Do they want to write a bad news story?Where do they rate on a scale of sensationalism?Where do they rate on a scale of play-it-down-ness?One fundamental question I would like to see answered:If the reactors are in meltdown, how can they be in cold shutdown?

2012/02/13: CNN: Stricken Japan nuclear plant ‘heating up’TEPCO says a faulty temperature gauge may be behind higher readings – Temperatures in Unit 2 at the Fukushima plant have been steadily rising – The plant was declared to be in “cold shutdown” on December 16 – Earthquake and tsunami caused nuclear chaos in Japan last March

2012/02/14: PostMedia: Russia could be new neighbour to Canada — Long-running dispute might have surprise endingTwo Canadian legal scholars have published a study showing how the push by northern nations for extended seabed territory in the Arctic Ocean could soon find Canada negotiating a maritime boundary with a new next-door neighbour: Russia. Most of Canada’s borderlands and boundary waters separate this country from the United States, including Alaska in the northwest corner of the continent. Canada also has maritime boundaries with Denmark (between Ellesmere Island and Greenland) and France, which oversees the tiny islands of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon south of Newfoundland. But the possibility that Canada and Russia might one day share a border has, until now, seemed unimaginable given the vast ocean distances separating the two countries, and the relatively modest 370-kilometre (200-nautical-mile) offshore zone within which nations are permitted to exercise exclusive jurisdiction and resource rights.

2012/02/17: PlanetArk: EU Blames Iceland For Collapse Of “Mackerel War” TalksThe latest round of talks to try to resolve a dispute over mackerel fishing rights in the northeast Atlantic has ended in failure, with the EU’s fisheries chief blaming Iceland and the Faroe Islands for their collapse. Officials have so far held five rounds of talks to try to end the ongoing “mackerel war,” which began in 2010 when Iceland increased its annual catch quota for the fish from around 2,000 tons to 130,000 tons. Faroese mackerel catches have increased six-fold in the last two years to reach 150,000 tons in 2011

2012/02/15: RT: 300k farmers hope for lawsuit against MonsantoAround 300,000 organic farmers think that Monsanto, the biotech giant known for genetically modifying Mother Nature’s handwork for profit and pushing over the little guys all the while, is pretty seedy. Now a judge in New York is debating if Monsanto’s questionable methods will go before a jury. Judge Naomi Buchwald of the Southern District Court of New York says she will have a decision on March 31 in regards to whether a lawsuit waged against the mega-corporation Monsanto should make it to trial.

2012/02/15: BBC: Sea urchin spine structure inspires idea for concreteThe precise structure of sea urchins’ strong spines has been unravelled – and the find may contribute to stronger concrete in the future. The tough spines are known to be made of calcium carbonate, which has a number of naturally occurring forms, some more brittle than others. X-ray studies now show they are built from “bricks” of the crystal calcite, with a non-crystalline “mortar”.

2012/02/13: ABC(Au): Firefighters battle blaze near NorthcliffeMore than 140 firefighters are struggling to contain a blaze burning out of control near Northcliffe in WA’s South West. The fire was started by lightning last Thursday in Babbington State Forest and has since burned through almost 13,000 hectares of bushland.

2012/02/18: ABC(Au): Flooded towns relying on food dropsThe State Emergency Service is delivering up to 50 tonnes of supplies a day to people in isolated communities in north-western New South Wales. The SES is flying in goods including food, medication and mail to people in Lightning Ridge, Walgett and Collarenebri. About 5,000 people are isolated in the towns and are expected to remain stranded for several weeks.

2012/02/16: BBC: Drought fears for Britain prompt water summitThe environment secretary is to meet water companies, farmers and wildlife groups amid fears that parts of Britain may face the worst drought since 1976. Parts of south-east England, East Anglia and the east Midlands are among the worst affected areas.

2012/02/17: EurActiv: Hard times for carbon storage, solar powerEurope’s record-low carbon prices are making carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology more of “an annoyance” in the absence of additional incentives, a delegate told a Brussels conference where policymakers and energy experts assessed the EU’s energy strategies in the light of the economic downturn.

2012/02/15: ABC(Au): Clean coal ‘unviable for two decades’There will be no business case for developing clean-coal power plants in Australia or overseas in the next 20 years, according to a key Federal Government adviser. National Low Emissions Coal Council chairman Dick Wells says even the introduction of a carbon price in July will not entice the coal industry to invest the billions required for clean-coal plants because it makes no financial sense and punishes shareholders.

2012/02/14: ABC(Au): Cloud hangs over Rudd’s clean coal visionOne of the world’s leading clean coal experts [former head of Australia’s Cooperative Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas (CO2CRC), Peter Cook] wrote to then-prime minister Kevin Rudd warning that his multi-million dollar Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute was a mistake, an ABC investigation has confirmed. The institute, which is 99 per cent funded by Australian taxpayers, has spent $37 million on projects around the world – including almost $13 million on United States projects that are run by foreign corporations, each with billions of dollars in assets and annual revenue. But the institute has been accused of wasting money, failing to make a significant impact and being irrelevant, and all three American projects have been scrapped or are on hold.

2012/02/16: Eureka: Special Fukushima Session at 2012 Ocean Sciences MeetingThe March 11, 2011, earthquake, tsunami, and subsequent radioactivity releases from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plants resulted in the largest accidental release of radiation to the ocean in history. In a special session on Tuesday, Feb. 21, during the 2012 Ocean Sciences Meeting in Salt Lake City, researchers will present early results from several field and modeling studies examining the fate of more than a dozen radioactive isotopes in the air, water, and organisms impacted by the Fukushima releases.

2012/02/13: ERW: ‘Quality control’ of climate models can help predict future rainfallWill cotton farmers in India still be able to rely on the south-west monsoon by 2020? Will the Corn Belt in the Midwestern United States become wetter or drier? Are European rivers more likely to burst their banks and cause significant floods? These are important questions that need answering to prepare for climate change. So can climate models provide the answers?

2012/02/17: ABC(Au): Academics boycott journal publisherResearch rebuff To publish or not to publish? That is the question medical and science academics are asking after 6000 of their colleagues boycotted one of the world’s largest publishers. They say Dutch-based publisher Elsevier is ripping off the taxpayer through “extortionate” access fees. But others say they don’t know what all the fuss is about. Elsevier publishes 250,000 articles a year and its archives contain seven million publications.

2012/02/17: NYT: Countries Seek Retaliation to Europe’s Carbon Tax on AirlinesChina, the United States and two dozen other countries are looking at coordinated retaliation — including measures to squeeze European airlines and other industries — if Europe tries to enforce a new law requiring airlines to pay for their greenhouse gas emissions. The system, the European Union’s boldest initiative on climate protection to date, has provoked a worldwide outcry and raised the unwelcome prospect of a full-scale trade war. European officials have stood firm while challenging opponents to suggest an equally effective alternative. The European system requires an airline landing or taking off in Europe to acquire permits corresponding to the amount of greenhouse gases emitted during the entire flight — regardless of where it originated or ended or the nationality of the airline. The system went into effect this year, although the first payments will not be due until 2013.

2012/02/16: PlanetArk: EU Climate Chief: Would See Merit In Airline CO2The European Union’s climate chief said on Tuesday she hopes countries opposed to its rules that charge airlines for carbon emissions take their complaints to the U.N. aviation body, where talks could help to defuse tensions over the strict measures. A group of 26 countries, including the United States, China, India and Russia, have sharply criticized the EU program and will meet next week in Moscow to set a strategy to block the EU plan. Last September, those countries threatened to file a formal complaint at the U.N.’s International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) against the EU program that came into force on January 1, but have yet to take formal action to challenge the measures at that body.

Note: The BBC is up to its old rewriting tricks. I haven’t checked what text the URL brings up now:Monday morning…

2012/02/13: BBC: EU ‘risks trade war’ over carbon trading schemeThe European Union’s carbon trading scheme may spark a trade war, according to one of the world’s biggest planemakers. “What started out as a solution for the environment has become a source of potential trade conflict,” Airbus boss Thomas Enders said. The Emissions Trading System levies a charge on flights in EU airspace based on carbon emissions. But the US and China are opposed to their airlines joining the scheme.

Sunday night…

2012/02/12: BBC: Airlines seek United Nations deal on EU emissions taxThe International Air Transport Association (IATA) has called for the United Nations to broker a deal between airlines and the European Union (EU) on the EU Emissions Trading Scheme. It comes days after China banned its airlines from joining the scheme, which levies a charge on flights in EU airspace based on carbon emissions.

2012/02/16: CBC: Oliver calls European oilsands threat grandstandingFederal Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver is calling a European effort to bar oil imports from Alberta’s oilsands nothing more than grandstanding. Proposed changes to the European Union’s fuel quality directive would reduce emissions from transport fuels by 10 per cent in the next decade — a goal that would make it more difficult to import oilsands fuel. Oliver says the European position is both unscientific and an attempt to single out Canadian crude.

2012/02/15: PlanetArk: EU Vote On Tar Sands Law Expected On February 23European Union officials are expected to vote on February 23 on a draft law that would label fuel produced from tar sands as more polluting than that from other forms of oil, according to a draft agenda seen by Reuters. The proposal from the EU’s executive to include tar sands in a ranking designed to enable fuel suppliers to identify the most carbon-intensive options has stirred up intense lobbying by Canada.

2012/02/16: G&M: Security services deem environmental, animal-rights groups ‘extremist’ threatsFederal security services have identified Greenpeace and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals as the kind of “multi-issue extremist” groups that pose a threat to Canadians, documents obtained under Access to Information show. In a series of documents from 2005 to 2009, the RCMP and CSIS assess “threats from terrorism and extremism” and report growing concerns about environmental and animal-rights groups, as well as militants from first nations.

2012/02/15: OPB: Sierra Club Appeals For Coos Bay Coal RecordsAnti-coal activists say the International Port of Coos Bay trying to hide information about proposed coal export projects by denying access to public records. On Wednesday, the Sierra Club appealed the Port’s decision to charge nearly $20,000 for access to 2,500 public records of coal export and storage proposals in and around Coos Bay.

2012/02/16: WNN: US committed to nuclear, Chu tells Vogtle workersThe Obama Administration is “committed to doing our part to help jumpstart America’s nuclear industry,” US energy secretary Steven Chu said during a visit to the Vogtle site in Georgia, where construction of two new reactors is due to start soon. He highlighted the steps that the Administration is taking to restart the country’s nuclear industry.

2012/02/17: EurActiv: David Cameron in France to sign nuclear power dealBritish prime minister David Cameron is meeting Nicolas Sarkozy on Friday (17 February) to cement a £500 million (E602 million) agreement on civilian nuclear co-operation that is expected to create more than 1,500 jobs in Britain. Britain and France are to sign a landmark agreement to co-operate on civil nuclear energy, paving the way for the construction of a new generation of power plants in the UK.

2012/02/17: PlanetArk: EU Politicians Agree Compromise Text On CO2 AllowancesEuropean parliamentarians have agreed to compromise wording ahead of a vote this month that is expected to increase pressure on the Commission to remove carbon allowances to prop up prices on the EU Emissions Trading Scheme which have plumbed record lows. The news helped carbon prices, with the benchmark contract up nearly 4 percent at 8.68 euros per tonne at 1250 GMT. The compromise text, as widely expected, does not specify how many carbon allowances might be withheld to tackle a huge surplus in the market.

2012/02/15: EurActiv: Food safety agency’s reliability faces fresh criticismThe EU agency charged with reviewing the safety of biotech crops, food and fertilisers has “frequent conflicts of interest” with the industries it is supposed to evaluate, says a report that adds renewed doubts about its scientific assessments. The report by two campaign groups, the Corporate Europe Observatory and the Earth Open Source, documents cases where the European Food Safety Authority uses industry scientists and information in risk assessments that are used by EU institutions and national governments. “Too often it’s not independent science that underlies EFSA decisions about our food safety, but industry data,” says the report ‘Conflicts on the menu’.

2012/02/15: EurActiv: Oettinger pleads for energy network packageEnergy Commissioner Günther Oettinger, whose efficiency directive has been gutted by member states, yesterday (14 February) pleaded with Europe’s energy ministers to back his department’s remaining flagship, a E9.1-billion energy infrastructure package. “I’m pleading with you not to come up with reservations but with general support that can be crucial to our generation,” an impassioned Oettinger told the ministerial roundtable in Brussels. Europe’s electricity networks are currently stuck in “the world of 19th century principalities,” and without a rapid roll-out of energy transmission grids, “it will be the end of Europe,” Oettinger warned darkly.

2012/02/18: ABC(Au): End the speculation — Roxon backs Gillard amid leadership rumblingsAttorney-General Nicola Roxon has declared Julia Gillard a better prime minister than Kevin Rudd and urged the now-Foreign Minister to end leadership rumblings. There is increasing speculation Mr Rudd is preparing for a tilt at his old job which reports say could come as soon as in the next month. But Ms Roxon, who was promoted by Ms Gillard last year from the Health portfolio to Attorney-General, has told reporters that Mr Rudd should focus on being Foreign Affairs Minister.

2012/02/15: ABC(Au): Energy proposal reignites biomass debateGreens MP John Kaye has slammed two Federal Independent MPs over plans to allow woodchip-fired power stations to receive Renewable Energy Certificates. Dr Kaye says Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor’s move to lift an exclusion on the generators could have broad consequences for south east New South Wales. The MP says it will reignite interest in plans to generate fuel from woodchip timber waste near Twofold Bay at Eden.

2012/02/15: ABC(Au): Flood inquiry told of flawed river modelA report from a key independent witness has been delivered to the Queensland flood inquiry which could have a major bearing on its outcome. The report, delivered on Sunday from engineering company DHI, has backed the four dam operators accused of not releasing enough water from Brisbane’s Wivenhoe Dam ahead of the floods. It has also dismissed the modelling used to calculate flood levels as faulty.

2012/02/17: PostMedia: May: Environmentalists face Kafkaesque smearsThe federal Conservatives have to tone down their “Kafkaesque” demonization of environmentalists, Green Party leader Elizabeth May says. “I think that under the terms [Prime Minister Stephen] Harper and his cabinet members have been using in the House of Commons, I am now condemned as against Canada, as a radical, as an enemy and I suppose as a suspected future terrorist,” May told reporters Thursday. “Once you start describing political opponents as enemies, we’re in real trouble,” said May, MP for Saanich-Gulf Islands. “It’s very Kafkaesque.” May’s call to tone down the rhetoric comes after the revelation that the Canadian Security Intelligence Agency considers the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and Greenpeace a threat.

2012/02/16: G&M: Security services deem environmental, animal-rights groups ‘extremist’ threatsFederal security services have identified Greenpeace and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals as the kind of “multi-issue extremist” groups that pose a threat to Canadians, documents obtained under Access to Information show. In a series of documents from 2005 to 2009, the RCMP and CSIS assess “threats from terrorism and extremism” and report growing concerns about environmental and animal-rights groups, as well as militants from first nations.

2012/02/16: TStar: Lawyer sues police for unlawful G20 arrestA Toronto lawyer is suing police for unlawfully arresting him during the G20 summit, a claim substantiated by Ontario’s police complaints watchdog. Nicholas Wright, 29, was riding his bicycle along Bloor St. on June 27, 2010, the summit’s final day, when he was allegedly stopped by police and handcuffed, searched and detained for about 20 minutes. Wright claims he was told he was being arrested for wearing a disguise — he had a bandana and goggles around his neck — and an officer later provided a fake name when Wright demanded he identify himself.

2012/02/14: PostMedia: Feds hid names of big oil companies at lobbying retreatThe Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade has deliberately attempted to conceal key details about a taxpayer-funded lobbying training retreat it organized last year in London, England for its European diplomats to promote the oilsands, including names of major corporations involved and concerns raised at the meeting about whether its strategy was “credible.” It also attempted to conceal a warning that emerged from the meeting about the importance of the oilsands industry in ongoing free trade discussions with Europe – the Comprehensive and Economic Free Trade Agreement talks. “With CETA negotiations underway, a proper understanding of the oil sands is of growing importance to Canada’s place in Europe,” wrote Sushma Gera, a trade adviser at the Canadian High Commission in London, in a widely distributed email that summarized discussions at the retreat. Foreign Affairs officials blacked out this portion of the email, released to Postmedia News through access to information legislation. But the reference to free trade was included in a separate version of the correspondence released by Natural Resources Canada, following a similar access to information request. The heavily censored version of records from Foreign Affairs revealed other details about the February 2011 training session that included a $14,961.48 contract for an Ottawa-based consultant who delivered a presentation on “how to do advocacy” in Europe and “address criticism and emotions.” But the Natural Resources Canada version of the email revealed that Foreign Affairs officials blacked out names of industry stakeholders, Shell, Statoil, Total, the Royal Bank of Scotland and the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, which were invited by the government to participate in the retreat.

2012/02/15: CBC: Canada’s air pollution experts moved to ‘other priorities’ — Ozone monitoring draws international criticismEnvironment Canada has drastically cut back on its monitoring of air pollution that can cause health problems for Canadians, reassigning scientists involved in that monitoring to “other priorities.” In an email to CBC News, a department spokesman says Environment Canada is still providing “world class analysis” and will continue to “monitor the ozone through other means,” but did not provide details on what those are. The department was responding to recent warnings by leading atmospheric scientists that Canada’s cuts to its ozone monitoring program are affecting the world’s ability to monitor air quality and ozone depletion.

2012/02/15: THW: Our Record!In Canada thanks to Stephen Harper we are again discredited to the world. Since budget cuts to scientific research…

2012/02/14: PostMedia: Environment Canada budget cuts decriedU.S. scientists raise alarms about whether ozone, pollution monitoring will continue U.S. scientists are raising the alarm about Environment Canada, saying cuts in the department could go far beyond ozone monitoring. Programs tracking pollution wafting into Canada from Asia, Europe and the U.S. are also being hit, they say. And it’s an “open question” if Canada will be able to fulfil its obligations under several international agreements if more cut go ahead, five leading atmospheric scientists write in the newsletter of the American Geophysical Union, which has 61,000 members in 148 countries. The scientists say ozone measurements have been cut back at several Canadian stations since August. And Canada’s CORALNet (Canadian Operational Aerosol Lidar Network) program, part of an international effort tracking air pollution from Asia and Europe, has vanished.

2012/02/13: CBC: Canada dropping the ozone ball, scientists warnLeading atmospheric scientists are warning that Canada’s cuts to its ozone monitoring program are already having effects on the world’s ability to monitor air quality and ozone depletion. Five scientists from high-profile U.S. universities and NASA say in a recently-released paper that Canada is jeopardizing the scientific community’s ability to monitor for holes in the ozone, especially over the Arctic. They point out that monitoring has already stopped in five locations in Canada and the website that distributed the information has been pulled down.

2012/02/13: Eureka: Environment Canada cuts threaten science, international agreementsRecent cuts to the scientific workforce of Environment Canada, a government agency responsible for meteorological services and environmental research, threaten scientific research related to the ozone layer in the upper atmosphere and pollution in the lower atmosphere, according to environmental scientists in the U.S. These reductions in personnel and projected budget cuts also threaten existing international agreements. “Canada is a bellwether for environmental change, not only for Arctic ozone depletion but for pollutants that stream to North America from other continents, ” said Anne Thompson, professor of meteorology, Penn State. “It is unthinkable that data collection is beginning to shut down in this vast country, in some cases at stations that started decades ago.” The researchers, commenting in the current (Feb. 14) issue of the American Geophysical Unions Eos newspaper, state that since August when the cuts went into effect, ozone soundings have ceased at several Canadian stations. Lidar network measurements of particle pollution layers from five Canadian stations no longer occur, and the website that was distributing this data has disappeared. Environment Canada conducts many programs in support of international agreements including the UN framework for Climate Change Convention, the Montreal Protocol and U.S. bilateral agreements. The Canadian government signed all these agreements, but their ability to fulfil their obligations is now in question.

2012/02/17: CBC: Muzzling of federal scientists targeted by campaignCanadian government scientists are still being hampered from talking to the media about their taxpayer-funded research and that’s bad news for the public, say groups representing both journalists and federal scientists. The groups appealed to delegates at an international meeting of scientists in Vancouver on Friday, arguing that democracy depends on citizens having access to research so they can make informed decisions about government policy.

2012/02/17: BBC: Canadian government is ‘muzzling its scientists’The Canadian government has been accused of “muzzling” its scientists. Speakers at a major science meeting being held in Canada said communication of vital research on health and environment issues is being suppressed. But one Canadian government department approached by the BBC said it held the communication of science as a priority. Prof Thomas Pedersen, a senior scientist at the University of Victoria, said he believed there was a political motive in some cases. “The Prime Minister (Stephen Harper) is keen to keep control of the message, I think to ensure that the government won’t be embarrassed by scientific findings of its scientists that run counter to sound environmental stewardship,” he said. “I suspect the federal government would prefer that its scientists don’t discuss research that points out just how serious the climate change challenge is.”

2012/02/18: PostMedia: Unmuzzle federal scientists, group tells Harper — Public being denied important information, conference hearsGroups representing scientists and science writers sent an open letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Friday calling on his government to stop “muzzling” federal researchers. The release of the letter coincided with a panel discussion at the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s annual conference, which heard numerous examples of alleged government interference and reporters being denied timely access to scientists. Such control is sinking morale among scientists and denying the public access to important information about climate, agriculture and the environment, the conference heard.

2012/02/15: PostMedia: Enbridge says feds pushing “unrealistically fast” approvals for pipelineEnbridge, the company behind a controversial pipeline proposal to link the Alberta oilsands with the British Columbia coast, has complained federal departments were asking it for too much information and pushing the approval process at an “unrealistically fast” pace, says newly released briefing material from Environment Canada. The internal records contrast recent statements made by federal cabinet ministers and the Alberta-based energy company about delays in the review process for the proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline.

2012/02/14: CBC: Environment group testifies on charities’ tax statusA prominent Canadian environmentalist defended the charitable status of organizations such as his before the federal Finance Committee on Tuesday. Peter Robinson, CEO of the David Suzuki Foundation, spoke about advocacy and its importance in a functioning democracy, transparency in charities and corporations and the international funding of charities in Canada.

2012/02/19: PostMedia: Rangers play growing role in North — Eyes and ears in remote territories a vital presence as sovereignty at issueWith their imposing armoured trucks and green camouflage, the troops from the south get the most attention as they train up here on the edge of the Arctic. But the real eyes and ears – those who never forgot how to fight and survive in the Canadian North – are the 1,500 members of the 1st Canadian Ranger Patrol Group. Since 1999, the ranger group has been launching extended sovereignty patrols along hundreds of kilometres of coastline, to the North Pole and to rarely visited Arctic islands. Now, several influential voices argue they should also be equipped with oceangoing boats to become the first responders when the coast guard is nowhere to be seen.

2012/02/14: BBC: US firm Monsanto ‘guilty’ in France poisoning caseA French court has found the US biotech giant Monsanto legally responsible for the poisoning of a farmer [Paul Francois] who inhaled a powerful weedkiller. Correspondents say the case could influence rulings in other countries on the use of pesticides. Monsanto says it will appeal…

2012/02/13: BBC: Lake Kivu gas: Turning an explosion risk into a power sourceMore than 1,000 people died in 1986 when a lake in Cameroon released a cloud of CO2 that suffocated entire villages. A much larger lake in Rwanda – with two million people living nearby – is also at risk of eruption, but plans are afoot to make it safer.[…]Deep at the bottom of the lake, about 1,000 feet (300m) down, Kivu’s water is heavy with dissolved gas. The lake contains an estimated 256 cubic kilometres of carbon dioxide (CO2) and 65 cubic kilometres of methane

2012/02/17: BBC: Fracking contamination downplayedThe concern that hydraulic fracturing of shale formations to extract natural gas is contaminating groundwater is overstated, claims a new report. Researchers reviewing the available data in the US found nothing to suggest “fracking” had a unique problem. Rather, they suggest the contamination events that do arise are just as likely to afflict other types of oil and gas drilling operations.

2012/02/17: EurActiv: Nuclear industry seen emerging from Fukushima shockEuropean Commission officials and energy experts believe nuclear power has turned the corner following the Fukushima disaster a year ago. Business representatives pleaded in favour of “better communication” to society following the incident, which prompted Germany to immediately close eight nuclear power plants.

2012/02/16: EurActiv: Greenpeace praises EU nuclear stress test ‘transparency’The stress tests carried out on Europe’s nuclear power plants in the wake of the Fukushima disaster last year have already brought “important wins”, especially in terms of transparency, says Greenpeace nuclear expert Jan Haverkamp. Speaking to EurActiv.sk in an interview, he also said the tests had exposed some “black holes” in the emergency responses that need to be addressed.

2012/02/14: BBC: BAE provides details of ‘structural battery’ technologyTorches, drones and an electric Le Mans racing car are all test-beds for a new kind of “structural battery”, BAE Systems has said. The batteries use carbon fibre and can form part of the body of a device. By effectively building the power source into the fabric of an object they can save weight.

My first novel Water was published in Canada May, 2007. The American release was in October. An Introductionto the novel is available, along with the Unpublished Forewordand the Launch Talk(which includes some quotations), An overview of my writing is available here.

“Healing the wounds of the earth and its people does not require saintliness or a political party, only gumption and persistence. It is not a liberal or conservative activity; it is a sacred act.” -Paul Hawken